-St. Basil the Great The saying, “Arise, O Lord my God, according to the decree which Thou hast commanded” (Ps 7:6/7), may be understood concerning the mystery of the resurrection—as though the Prophet were praying that the Judge may arise…
-St. Basil the Great To lavish excessive care on the adornment of the body is not the mark of a man who truly knows himself, nor of one who understands that profound moral teaching: that the visible is not the…
-St. Basil the Great In the ordinances of the Lord there is contained as abundant wisdom as the creatures are manifold or alike among themselves. To enumerate them all in detail would be as impossible as attempting to count the…
-St. Basil the Great Just as pleasant and much-desired things possess no permanence or stability, so too all sorrowful events cannot endure long or remain unshaken; everything is subject, as it were, to some surging wave and to sudden changes.…
-St. Basil the Great It is impossible for one who refuses to take the lowest and last place before all, or who, when reproached, cannot restrain anger, or who, when insulted, cannot overcome temptation with long-suffering. He who has reached…
-St. Basil the Great Alexander, king of the Macedonians, having taken captive the daughters of Darius (whose beauty, according to history, was wondrous), did not even deign to look upon them, judging it unworthy of a conqueror of men to…
-St. Basil the Great The grievous circumstances of the present time cause us no small sorrow: all the churches are shaken, every soul is troubled. Everyone has boldly opened their mouth against their fellow-servants. Falsehood is uttered without fear, truth…
-St. Basil the Great It is utterly blameworthy for a Christian to be quick to revenge and in every way to strive to repay in kind those who have offended him. For how can one teach another not to render…
-St. Basil the Great The Christian life is uniform, beloved! It has one single aim: the glory of God. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31), says…
-St. Basil the Great The lower must always be governed by the higher, for the folly of the people has often entrusted rule to the very worst. Therefore, the one who, by the testimony of all, surpasses others in understanding,…